So after I visited Charlotte County, Virginia in April, I wrote about a local Amish variety stand. In that post I mentioned the following, about a different place: As I finished up my purchase, the girl directed me to a dry goods store not too far away. After she gave me directions explaining that it was down a long lane, and I was confident I had…
Articles on Amish auctions are fairly common this time of year. I found this one on the Clearview School Quilt & Consignment Auction (Green County, WI) more interesting than most. Here are 3 things from this auction that jumped out at me: 1. Food Out Of An Amish School Window – Food is not the main purpose of an Amish auction, but it is a…
Unlike yesterday’s lead story, this is not of the feel-good variety. The Jamestown Post-Journal reports on an incident which happened Sunday in Warren County, PA: WARREN, Pa. — Information is being sought after a youth riding in an Amish buggy was struck in the face by a BB fired from an SUV in Warren County. According to the Pennsylvania State Police, the incident took place…
Accompanied by their attorney, Amish shared their views on proposed regulations at a standing-room-only supervisors’ meeting in Washington Township (Lycoming County, PA) Monday. Township officials and other residents voiced their views as well. At issue are 3 proposed new requirements for Amish buggies: Horse diapers to prevent manure falling on roadways Rubber horseshoes to prevent damage to roadways 4-inch-high numbering on all four sides of…
How about a feel-good story? Delta, Pennsylvania lies in extreme southern York County. Amish live in two places in the county – five or six church districts lying across the Susquehanna river (technically part of the Lancaster County settlement), and a separate stand-alone community. It turns out local Amish have been glad for the generosity of one area business owner. From Reader’s Digest: In 2013,…
In February we had a look at the first Amish settlement in North America, located at Northkill in Pennsylvania’s Berks County (founded approximately 1740). I recently came across an interesting Ontario historical blog with a photo of a plaque marking the location of the first Amish settlement in Canada, which came about some 80+ years after Northkill. Here’s the text from the plaque: THE FIRST…
Lycoming County, PA’s Washington Township wants local Amish buggies and their horses to change – in a pretty big way. From Pennlive.com: ELIMSPORT – “Blatant discrimination” is what an attorney for Old Order Amish says about proposed ordinances in a rural Lycoming County township that would require horses on public roads to wear a device to collect feces and to have rubber horseshoes. A third…
The Young Center has just published their annual Amish population numbers. As of 2019, an estimated 342,100 Amish live in four different countries. That includes Amish in: 31 US States 4 Canadian Provinces One settlement each in Bolivia and Argentina There don’t seem to be any big surprises after looking over the figures. Unlike most recent years, there were no new states, provinces, or countries…
Members of a Missouri Mennonite community have forgiven the teenaged driver who struck a buggy July 11th, resulting in the death of a 7-year-old boy. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Meanwhile, some men in the Mennonite community have met with the boy to forgive him for killing 7-year-old Mervin Shirk. “They wanted him to know they were not harboring ill will against him,” said Clay…
It seems the most contentious issue with Amish moving into Lancaster County towns and subdivisions has to do with housing horses. Amish have been seeking allowances to keep horses on smaller-than-normally-permitted properties. Who among the Amish wants to live in a suburban or “in-town” home? These may be young families, or older retired couples, who have downsized from the farm, but still need to keep…